 African literature is very exciting just because people are starting to pay attention to it and realizing that literature doesn't have to be written by old white men from England or France or anything. I think it's more in tune with people, like it's more about today's society, today's youth and the problems we face in a post-modern world. Before we had the grades like a chip and a sharing card and I feel like they had a reason to write what they wrote. They had responsibilities, they had things that they needed to say but now with this new reawakening like kind of like renaissance of African literature we are more free to talk about different things, open the discourse, explore different topics. The surrounding modern story which is what I think is a key element of West African writing right now is that modern voice of travel, of interconnectedness, of identity, of search for self. I like the diasporan aspect, I like the youth, I like the freshness. I like the fact that we have a voice and we can have a voice. I think more women are standing up to say yes I'm a writer, I can do this, I can publish. It doesn't make any difference about my gender and more women are confident nowadays to do certain things to write, to publish, to run their own publishing companies. I think what Shimamanda means to me is what she means to a lot of young women of my age. It was a black woman who was doing something, not even just about writing in particular a black woman who was doing something and being recognized and respected. Women are of greater concern in the literature. In my own writing for instance I feature women and that's sort of axiomatic simply because women form a large portion of the population and their concerns reflect on the development of the individual countries as well as the region. So it makes sense that we will find that a lot of them are being discussed in the novels. The three words I would use to describe West African literature today would be dynamic, astounding and complex. Energetic, forward-looking, inspirational. Colorful, insightful and very rich in context. Expansive, diverse and incredibly challenging. Interesting, scary, hilarious. I will describe West African literature as passionate, romantic and energizing. What is African literature? It is multi-generational, polyphonic and timeless. Inspiring, insightful and brave. Can't be done.